Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Full throttle, Italian made, Vietnam military action
spectacle that may just be the most streamlined 80 minutes of firepower and
explosions ever committed to celluloid. Ok, so that might be an excessive case of hyperbole but Warbus gets straight to it: a bunch of
soldiers, ensnared behind enemy lines, commandeer an old bright yellow school
bus and set off through the Vietnam jungle, guns blazing, in an attempt to get
back home. Along for the ride are a bunch of missionaries also trapped behind
enemy lines and what follows is a lot of driving, a good dose of 80s Italian
war film weirdness, tons of gunfire and an incredible amount of explosions:
even by Italian made, Vietnam military action standards.

After a brief opening credits sequence featuring an old war
statue shot from every conceivable angle while the tiles roll over it (!), it’s
straight into the gunfire and exploding huts as the missionaries desperately
attempt to flee their under fire camp from the Vietcong. No messing about,
straight into the action: excessive firepower, epic explosions and loads of
extras getting wasted. This is how things proceed for much of the rest of the
film as the bus, which picks up several American GI’s along the way, trundles
through the jungle stopping frequently for gun battles, diffusing minefields
(by shooting automatic weapons at them: awesome!), navigating tough terrain,
more gun battles and seemingly blowing up every hut/building/free form standing
building they come across. In the brief breaks between all the action, director
Ferdinando Baldi keeps things ticking along with all kinds of absurdness: once
character suffers from epilepsy for no apparent reason, the soldiers all shack
up with the various lady missionaries at one point or another and the troupe
discover an abandoned building full of alcohol at another point and stop to
drink and talk about, well, I’m not really sure!

But as mentioned, gunfire and explosions are the name of the
game here and Warbus is jammed packed
with both. There is a serious amount of explosions in this film, all gloriously
captured and doing their job of blowing shit up good and well. It wouldn’t be
surprising if the filmmakers were given a budget for explosions, found an old
school bus and were told to craft a movie around the two. If so, mission
accomplished. The film is also nicely shot, making good use of it locations and
the cast are suitably sweaty, heroic and unhinged, in equal measure, meaning
there is plenty of eccentricity to go along with all the action packed
awesomeness. Those who like a little more plot to go along with their bang bang
and boom boom may not find much to enjoy here (and probably shouldn’t be or
wouldn’t be watching this type of film anyway!) but for the Italian jungle
based military action film enthusiast out there, Warbus is a gem worth tracking down.

Now this is how you make a fun short film: thirty minutes of action soaked coolness with its tongue planted firmly in cheek all shot through like a blockbuster epic. Director Chris Cronin and his team of writers, actors, stunt people and effects artists cram so much action, fun and over-the-top imagination into Sophie’s Fortune it makes for a breezy and entertaining thirty minutes. In fact, imagination is the name of the game here as a group of dads throwing a birthday party let their imaginations run riot in their annual treasure hunt game leading to all kinds of gun play, fist fights and jungle based adventures. Thrust into the mix is newcomer Brendan (Hardwick) who has brought his niece Sophie (Busow) along to the party and promises to bring back the treasure just for her. Adapting quickly to the imagination-run-riot treasure hunt, Brendan finds himself put through his paces and fends off the other dads in a series of high-octane action scenes.

For a low budget film shot in the English countryside (effectively standing in for a jungle setting), Sophie’s Fortune does wonders with its premise becoming a sort of mini Indiana Jones adventure. Nicely shot to resemble blockbusters of the 80s and 90s with events and action scenes playing out in an un-fussy manner (meaning no silly camera shake nonsense or over editing craziness): Sophie’s Fortune is a refreshingly unpretentious affair. Adventure and action is the agenda here and once the dads run off into the woods to seek the treasure the action kicks into high gear. Featuring a nice and often non-stop mix of gunplay, fist fights and a ridiculous amount of explosions the action is varied, often creative and gets bigger and bigger as it progresses. With more than a hint of Indiana Jones, a little bit of John Woo and some high impact fights scenes, the makers of Sophie’s Fortune go for the action jugular and it doesn't disappoint. There is also a great gag when a bad guy turns up with a “Painless” style mini-gun ala Predator and proceeds to decimate everything in his path: awesome.

Speaking of gags (both funny and visual), the film packs in a few of these as well (in between all the action goodness) including a neat scene where the dads are running through the woods and transform into the heroes they perceive themselves to be (which you can preview here: https://vimeo.com/83441812) and a very funny bit where we see the kids watching all the action from the sidelines and, yep, wouldn’t you know it they are bored: despite all the carnage, chaos and stuff blowing up! Sure the CGI/green screen effects don’t always convince and the run time could have been a little longer to get to know the characters a bit better (and fit in a couple more action scenes!) but all in all Sophie’s Fortune is a blast. Well shot (it looks fantastic), well acted and with well choreographed action scenes this is a mini blockbuster hoot.

Cool Target

About Me

From B-movies to blockbusters; kung-fu to car chases movies; explosions and even a bit of sci-fi, you'll find it here at Cool Target. This blog is a simple appreciation of the most under-appreciated genre of cinema: action. Old and new reviews, both short and long will be posted regularly detailing action blockbusters, B-movies, kung-fu flicks and more. Enjoy.